Coffee/Cocktail Craze

Hollywood regency cocktail table via ebay.  Marbelized top and brass legs. 

While my love of coffee and cocktails is nothing new, I have a serious obsession with vintage coffee/cocktail tables lately (*see post below).  (What's the difference between coffee and cocktail table you ask?  Nothing, one just sounds fancier.) 

As always, thank you ebay for sustaining my habit, and for providing blog content.

More than anything, I just have an addiction to scouring ebay for great finds -- and lately its been tables for some reason (not that I need one).  So if you know of group therapy, or are looking to do an award winning Ph.D., just let me know. (I also have an oxymoronic, but slight infatuation with lamps-- just don't tell the doctors).

This is pretty glam/cool....(with glass top, oh la la):

Very cool cocktail table base for 245 that was on my ebay watch list, even though I didn't need it.   It's just so cool though.  If I had the space, I could be a hoarder of coffee/cocktail tables and lamps.
Cray, cray -- Kat?

Here's to a week of excellent coffee and cocktails (clink mugs and glasses)!
-me

Hurricane in the house!

wowsa!  incredible tessellated coffee table....wow!

Welll, every story has to have a beginning, middle and end.  The above table is the opening chapter in this mini-novella.  It really should be a soap opera, the way my week has gone, although I pray Marlena from Days of Our Lives does not make an appearance as the Devil. (That was from my college days when my roomates would tape that soap, and we'd watch it instead of studying for finals.  Did I just age myself?).  

Chapter 1:
I was vintage/antique/consignment shopping the other day with another talented eye (she's the best), and spotted this puppy!  It's an incredible Maitland-Smith tesselated coffee table (these things sell on 1stdibs for abt $3,000 -- and usually found in cream...this is a very unique emerald green (love)).  Needless to say, I got this for MUCHmuchmuchmuchmuch less (less than that even).  

It's an incredible piece and now I have to redsign the whole room around it.  So, of course, now the whole house is being redecorated, everything is for sale on craigslist, etc. and it looks like a hurricane hit the interior of the  homestead.  But this is progress, folks.  I love getting all crazy and changing up the chi/vibe of my own home every year.

Can't wait to post Chapters 2 and up...!  

Out with the old, in with the old...

 Hello? 1980 is calling your cell phone.  It wants its receiver back.

With the exception of planking*, trends often take their cue from the past.  (*I know of no precedent for it, or the atrocity of coning). 

Unless you’re Nicholas Cage -- who has apparently lived forever and quite possibly invented cave painting, we mortals tend to draw inspiration from history, particularly in areas of design and style.  

Strange, but true: this is actually for sale on ebay for $1,000,0000.00.  Read abt this craziness here.
I know its a bit off topic, but I couldn't resist.

Every so often when a trend resurfaces, pack rats everywhere prove their mastermind as they can finally say, “See, I’m so happy I didn’t throw away my___.”  (Circle one: bellbottoms/platforms/hotpants/jelly shoes/ Madonna-style rubber bracelets/ wig-wam socks…I wonder if these will make a come back?/insert your own) 

My newest favorite trend to usher in the old is brought to you by the classic telephone headset we all know and love, and for good reason: it fits our rounded head.

Available in a rainbow of colors, the Moshi Retro POP Handset works with the iPad 2, iPad, iPhone 4 4G 3GS 3G (AT&T and Verizon), iPod touch (2G 3G 4G), HTC Android EVO, Blackberry, Samsung Galaxy S, Droid.  I bought mine at Steinmart, but they are available at Amazon.com also. 

If you are Spongebob, a miniature flat apparatus the size of a playing card is perfect for the flat side of your head.  However, if you are not, the retro headset is ergonomically better cupped to suit the human ear.  

Because I love my iPhone so dearly, I tend to get upset with my face for getting in the way of my phone calls on the occasions when my ill-mannered cheek hits the facetime/speaker option, or tries to dial someone three-way.  Moshi’s classic two-holed receiver has mended at least one relationship in that way.

Other reasons this trend is worth the $29.99 investment:

1. Cuts down on radiation to your head. (a big bonus I’d say).

2. Conversation starter. (I brought this out last weekend and made lots of new friends.)

3. Easy to locate in your purse/bag/man satchel/murse.  (True to original form in size.)

4. Make a statement: (Thank you to my models for the following three examples, in order of appearance: Gerald, Jennifer and Megan).

Impress your colleagues:  look like the true executive that you are when you yank
this out of your pocket.  The bigger the phone, the bigger the___(paycheck)? 

5. Relax your neck:

While everyone else strains their neck, you can cut down on your chiropractic visits.

6. If you value shock-value, this is the item for you.

Caution: May cause accidents when used in a moving vehicle due to gawking by other motorists.
As always, please use your blue tooth while driving.

7. You will find new excuses to use your phone and will probably spend some time photo bombing your friends with pictures of you and your new purchase. Case in point: the 3 photos above.

Unfortunately for those of you who did hold onto your classic phone headset, you still need to purchase this version if you want it to be adaptable to your iPhone, blackberry or iPad.

 P.S. Look what I found by the same manufacturers:

Perfect for the office!

Mission: Missoni, Target: Targét

Sexy Italian dudes: get off your vintage Missoni couch and get to Tar-jaay for more Missoni!

Joke's over folks.  Referring to Target as Targét (Tar-jaay) has become a self-fulfilling prophecy apparently.  The budget-friendly retailer is living up to its sarcastic, yet frenchified urban slang name (or at least trying to).  

Ignore the fluorescent headache from bad department store lighting and pretend the geriatric greeters are tall exotic models, and suddenly shopping in Target is as chic as strolling down Via della Spiga.  (Okay, it might take a little more imagination than that.)  Ambience can be overrated anyway when you're mind is set on a budget.  

There was nothing cheap about Missoni before -- clothing and home accesories
that can cost in the thousands.  Now Missoni belongs to the masses at Target.

The retailer's fashion forward collaborations (Zac Posen for one) have given the most frugal the gift of haute style.  Now it's Missoni's turn.  Famous for it's knitwear and its colorful zig-zag, Missoni is an Italian based fashion brand that has been around since the '50s.   When I think of Missoni I think mod-squad/Bond girl:

If Kate Moss can look this good in Missoni, so can we all.  (ha ha)

Although I failed to camp outside Targét at 3 am yesterday morning in order to be first to hit the much-anticipated Missoni collection, plenty of people did.  So many, in fact, that the majority of Target’s nationwide were left bare of all things zig-zag.  

Cashmere throw blanket by Missoni for the home

Unfortunately my favorite throw blanket above is NOT part of the Missoni/Target collection, and also retails for about $500.  However, here are some home items that are:

Cool ziggy zaggy black and white lumbar pillow

Sorry but I still want the $500 blanket above

Really fun pillows...I like! 

A zig to the zag rug -- not crazy about these colors, but maybe it will come in others?

The collection is huge and covers clothing, accesories, home goods and even bikes(?)!

Now I know all you smarty-pants are thinking, "I'll just go online and do my Target- Missoni shopping...all those crazy people who wait in line at the store, ha!"  Well, your brilliance is only superseded by all the other brilliants out there who had the same thought.  Everything on the Target website is sold out, and apparently the site crashed several times yesterday from overload.  So, it looks like with the exception of the early-birds, we'll all be awaiting the Missoni-Target line yet again. Meanwhile, I'll be dreaming about dreaming under my cashmere non-Target Missoni throw (sorry, Target).

Are you Pinterested?

Instead of stapling Lionel’s illustrious message to a phone pole, I pinned it to one of my virtual pin boards (under Gets and Giggles).

How many times have you been surfing the great WWW and found an image, recipe, idea, or inspiration that you wish you had saved?  Well, now you can…if you’re on Pinterest!  Pinterest is a virtual pin board where you can save, share and organize anything you find on the web. 

The genius of Pinterest is that:

A. It's super easy ---  all you have to do is add the “pin it” button to your browser, click it when you see something you like, and Pinterest not only grabs the image, but also files it onto one of your pinboards. Pinterest automatically grabs the source link so you can credit the original creator.

see the "pin it" button on my browser -- it gets clicked a lot!

B. It lets you organize and name your own pinboards -- some people organize by colors, some people pin fashion, some people pin fonts, recipes, wedding ideas -- the list is endless.  My pinboards, so far, are: Inspiration Station: for the many interiors that inspire me; Dream Home: for my one day, happily ever after house; Home Girl: for all the things I want for my home now; Amazing Pieces: for incredible pieces of furniture I see; Art I Heart: for the art I heart; and Gets and Giggles: for all the wild and crazy stuff that merits a laugh, a "wow" or an "um, weird?!."  

C.  It's just genius.  Period, the end.

Here are some of my Pinterest images:

One of my favorite Slim Aarons photographs, filed under Art I Heart.

Madeline Weinrib rug filed under Home Girl.

Lovely colors and console styled with National Geographics, filed under Inspiration Station.

DIY PennyTiles....(can you imagine?), filed under Inspiration Station.

Gorgeous bathroom filed under Dream Home.

Ooohh la la Lamps, filed under Home Girl. 

One of my favorite bedrooms done by Miles Redd, filed under Inspiration Station.

Check out my Pinterest and sign up to start pinning your own virtual inpirations!

Warhol would be proud, Snookie

The only thing similar about Marilyn and Snookie, in this case, is the color orange.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I love a good reality show. Frankly, the more tasteless it is, the better.   Admit it you closet-watchers, these shows can provide plotlines so base that they exceed the entertainment value any half-hour sitcom with canned laughs could possibly provide. 

Freaks watching freaks pretty well sums it up.  I admit, I watch this trash too.

While the trash continues to clog up the TV guide, said trash is lining their pockets with wads of cash -- literally.  Yes, Snookie and The Situation are millionaires.

Jokes on us: 'The Situation' and Snookie are laughing to the bank and back.

If you haven’t heard of these two people, you need to leave the house more often.  Even if you don’t watch The Jersey Shore (of which I proudly only watched one season), the cast of this show has become pop culture icons and a leading example of how the definition of ‘celebrity’ has come to include camera hungry fools whose talents consist of fist-pumping, and GTL (gym, tanning and laundry for those not ‘in the know’).  Basically Andy Warhol and his 15-minute fame theory proved true.

Warhol -- famous for throwing wild parties, and perhaps for predicting the future.

So what do GTLers do with instant fame and money?  They get a Hollywood makeover of course!  For Pauly-D, The Situation, Vinnie and Ronnie, a makeover just means jugs of salon quality hair spray, plus a larger collection of track shoes and Ed Hardy t-shirts.  For the girls, as always, it’s a different story.  I didn’t even recognize these people when I saw this picture from the Video Music Awards:

What happened to  the sweat-suit clad tanned victims that made this series famous?

If you’re here, you know by now that I love a makeover.  Although their attire still rings Jersey (think sequins, animal print), their faces and bodies apparently got the standard Hollywood Rx .  Clearly their Jersey pad is also in need of a little nip/tuck to compliment their new faces/bodies. And guess who’s the girl to do it?  (Sheepishly raising my hand as I try to cover my face).  Okay, me:

 

Now that these people are here to stay –for the next 14 minutes at least, I’d like to see The Situation explain the connotation of this abomination that is such an aberration in the denotation of the civilization. 

Slow and Steady wins the race...

A tortoise shell hangs on Nate Berkus' wall in his Chicago apartment (via Elle Decor)
Note the striped rug and Chinese Chippendale chairs!

And the finish line is on bookshelves and walls all over.  The tortoise might be the ‘slowest you ever did meet,’ but his shell has kept steady pace in the design world for a few years.  Graphic and bold, tortoise shells are a sculptural accessory that can add texture and a sense of natural history to any space.  (*Genuine, antique shells should be purchased from a reliable source that can document them as a 'naturally shed shell.'  These protected animals should never be killed for their shell.) 

The good news for turtles is that there are resin and ceramic replicas of these coveted shells sold all over.

Tortoise shells as decorative objects on a bookshelf (via Elle Decor)

An antique tortoise shell hangs on New Orleans' Designer
Melissa Rufty's laquered walls .  (via House Beautiful.)

Kelly Wearstler lined the walls of La Marea Restaurant
at The Tides South Beach Hotel with resin tortoise shells.

Designer Mary McDonald creates a vignettte on a console with some mini tortoise shells.

A large Tortoise shell doubles as a fireplace screen.  (image via Elle Decor)

Jonathan Adler's Tortoise shell lamps.

Talented artist Amanda Talley creates masterpieces on tortoise shells. 

Mecox Gardens resin tortoise shell

The moral of this story is: a little inspiration goes a long way, especially when your pockets aren't deep enough for some of these fine accesories (the Mecox Gardens resin shell is $995, and J. Adler's lamps are $695...).  Look what I found at PetSmart the other day for $11.99:

What's good enough for some reptile's cage....

is good enough for my bookshelves.

And you know I've been dying to say this:  Turtle Time!  (if you don't watch the disaster that is Real Housewives of NYC: a. Good for you, 

b. Please disregard the last comment, I'm not really sure what it means either, so I can't explain it.)